Frankie Darro Titles: 82+ Sources: 2 Stills: 5+ Born: Frank Johnson Jr; Chicago; December 22nd 1918 Died: Huntington Beach, California; December 25th 1976 Hugely prolific silent boy actor, notably in Westerns and matinee serials. Despite appearing in more titles than Mickey Rooney, Shirley Temple and Freddie Bartholomew all put together, he never achieved comparable star status. Darro was neither decorative nor personable, a rugged mannish boy with surly looks, but he was lithe and nimble, and must at least have been a capable jobbing actor. As “THE CIRCUS KID”, age 9 Source: The Moving Picture Boy “Well, guests are not allowed boys in their rooms, either! Rules are rules.” “THE RAINBOW MAN”, age 10 Source: The Silents Majority website Halliwell’s Filmgoer’s Companion entry: and several hundred others". No wonder he sometimes had a harassed air. If Darro’s claim “Tough-looking little American actor, a former is to be believed, even our vast list represents child and teenage player; star of many second less than half of his output. He continued in features.” his teens to work busily - sometimes as a jockey (using his ridin’ skills), sometimes as a delinquent (with his seen-it-all look, which The Moving Picture Boy entry: can’t by then have needed much practice). He did fine work in "WILD BOYS OF THE “Frankie’s real name was Johnson. His ROAD" (33), "NO GREATER GLORY" parents were vaudevilleans, and with the get- (34) and "LITTLE MEN" (35). He was in up-and-go attitude typical of theatrical babies several more serials, such as "THE WOLF of the period he lost no time in getting into the DOG" (33), "BURN ’EM UP BARNES" family act in Chicago. (Frank Johnson Sr was (34), "PHANTOM EMPIRE" (35) and in young Frankie’s first film, "JUDGMENT "JUNIOR G-MEN OF THE AIR" (42). He OF THE STORM", in which the tot performs provided the voice of Lampwick in Disney’s "an acrobatic dance".) He went on to become "PINOCCHIO" (40), and can still be seen in a one of the most active, as well as acrobatic, of few films of the fifties and sixties, like "PAT all screen children, and in more than twenty AND MIKE" (52) and "THE CARPET- Westerns between 1925 and 1929 he was the BAGGERS" (64).” kid sidekick of cowboy star Tom Tyler. But he also played in very different kinds of film: in sentimental drama or, for instance, as Harry Langdon as a boy in "LONG PANTS". His work rate was prodigious - by 1930 he claimed to have been in "fifty Western pictures Above: age 7 in “HEARTS AND SPANGLES”, a circus yarn Below: as “LITTLE MICKEY GROGAN”, age 9 Source: The Silents Majority website Bottom of the heap, in “MIKE”, with Junior Coghlan and Muriel Francis Dana Source:The Silents Majority website FILMOGRAPHY Year Age Title Role deb 23 4 JUDGMENT OF THE STORM with dad Frank Johnson Sr 24 5 HALF-A-DOLLAR BILL 24 RACING FOR LIFE 24 ROARING RAILS 24 THE SIGNAL TOWER 24 WOMEN AND GOLD 25 6 CONFESSIONS OF A QUEEN 25 THE COWBOY MUSKETEER 25 FEARLESS LOVER 25 FIGHTING THE FLAMES 25 HER HUSBAND‟S SECRET 25 THE LADY with Johnny Fox Jr 25 LET‟S GO, GALLAGHER 25 THE PEOPLE VERSUS NANCY PRESTON 25 PHANTOM EXPRESS 25 SO BIG 25 WANDERING FOOTSTEPS 25 THE WYOMING WILDCAT 26 7 THE ARIZONA STREAK 26 THE CARNIVAL GIRL 26 THE COWBOY COP 26 FLAMING WATERS 26 HEARTS AND SPANGLES 26 THE MASQUERADE BANDIT 26 MIKE with Junior Coghlan, Muriel Francis Dana 26 OUT OF THE WEST 26 RED HOT HOOFS 26 THE SIGNAL TOWER 26 THE THRILL HUNTER 26 TOM AND HIS PALS 26 WILD TO GO 27 8 BORN TO BATTLE with Buck Black 27 CYCLONE OF THE RANGE 27 THE DESERT PIRATE 27 THE FLESH AND THE DEVIL with Philippe DeLacy, Maurice Murphy, George “Bubbles” Noisom 27 FLYING U RANCH 27 HER FATHER SAID NO 27 JUDGMENT OF THE HILLS with Dick Winslow 27 LIGHTNING LARIATS 27 LONG PANTS central character as a boy with George “Bubbles” Noisom 27 MOULDERS OF MEN 27 TOM‟S GANG 28 9 THE AVENGING RIDER 28 THE BATTLING BUCKAROO 28 THE CIRCUS KID in title role 28 THE EAGLE‟S TALONS 28 HEARTS AND HOOFS 28 LITTLE MICKEY GROGAN in title role 28 MYSTERY VALLEY 28 PHANTOM OF THE RANGE 28 THE ROAD TO ELDORADO 28 THE TERROR 28 TERROR MOUNTAIN 28 THE TEXAS TORNADO 28 TYRANT OF RED GULCH 28 WHEN THE LAW RIDES 29 10 GUN LAW 29 IDAHO RED 29 THE PRIDE OF PAWNEE 29 THE RAINBOW MAN as Billy Ryan 29 THE RED SWORD 29 TRAIL OF THE HORSE THIEVES 30 11 BLAZE O‟ GLORY 31 12 THE LIGHTNING WARRIOR serial 31 THE MAD GENIUS 31 PUBLIC ENEMY with Junior Coghlan 31 THE SIN OF MADELON CLAUDET 31 THE VANISHING LEGION serial 32 13 AMATEUR DADDY 32 CHEYENNE CYCLONE 32 THE DEVIL HORSE 12x serial, as “Wild Boy” 32 THREE ON A MATCH 32 WAY BACK HOME 33 14 THE MAYOR OF HELL with Allen “Farina” Hoskins 33 WILD BOYS OF THE ROAD / DANGEROUS DAYS 33 THE WOLF DOG serial 34 15 BROADWAY BILL 34 BURN „EM UP BARNES 34 LITTLE MEN with Tad Alexander, Tommy Bupp, Ronnie Cosbey, David Durand George Ernest, Junior Durkin, Dickie Jones, Dickie Moore, Silas “Buster” Phelps 34 NO GREATER GLORY with George Breakston, Jackie Searl, Tad Alexander, Jimmy Butler, Donald Haines, Bruce Line 35 16 THE PHANTOM EMPIRE † 12x serial with “The Junior Thunder Riders” 35 THREE KIDS AND A QUEEN with Billy Burrud, Billy Benedict 36 17 CHARLIE CHAN AT THE RACETRACK 37 18 RACING BLOOD 37 THOROUGHBREDS DON‟T CRY with Ronald Sinclair, Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland 38 19 THE GREAT ADVENTURES OF WILD BILL HICKOK 15x serial with Dickie Jones, Sammy McKim { † re-released in 1940 as “RADIO RANCH” ] .